Bai Qingzhi

"You... get out of my way!"

Blue scales surfaced on Bai Qingzhi's arm. In a flash, she whipped it toward Zhou Yun's face, the motion cracking through the air.

Bang!

Force burst from Zhou Yun's palm. His Black Ape Palm caught the whipping arm in an instant, and he immediately lunged in close.

Both his hands clamped onto Bai Qingzhi's arm, then slid up to seize her shoulder, gripping her shoulder blade.

But her arm suddenly slipped free of his grasp like a slick, pliant snake.

"Hmm? Is that a trait of the Snake Tribe's Demon-Humans...?"

Zhou Yun's brows lifted slightly, and an idea immediately came to him.

"You think you can catch me? Human martial artist!"

Bai Qingzhi snorted coldly and glanced at Zhou Yun with disdain before turning to run into the mountains.

Suddenly, she was lifted by the back of her neck, both feet leaving the ground.

She dangled in Zhou Yun's hand like a little chick.

"What? Let go of me!"

Bai Qingzhi's green eyes widened. She clawed and thrashed in midair, flailing both hands and feet.

Her fair face turned even paler with panic. Instinctive fear and the force suppressing her left her limbs weak.

"Just as I thought. To take down a snake, you have to strike its weak spot."

Zhou Yun grinned. He pulled out a thick hemp rope with his left hand, bound the Snake-Woman tightly, then stuffed a thick piece of hemp cloth into her mouth.

The sight was certainly alluring, but Zhou Yun had no time to admire it. He casually tossed the Snake-Woman into the sack he had prepared earlier.

Outside the city, the moon was dark and the wind was high. At this late hour, no one would be passing by, so no one saw what Zhou Yun did.

He found a stretch of city wall without guards and used it for leverage, channeling force into his hands and feet.

After a few quick strides, he reached the top of the wall. Once he had looked around and confirmed no one was there, he jumped down from the other side.

"With how well I can control force beyond my body now, scaling a wall over ten meters high is no problem at all."

Zhou Yun carried the thrashing sack on his back, still feeling a little uneasy.

The sack was very sturdy, and with Dark Force constantly reinforcing his palms, it wouldn't tear.

After all, this was a Snake Tribe Demon-Human at the peak of Bright Force. She had caused quite a stir at the Sea Whale Gang's auction banquet, and several factions might be looking for her by now.

Not to mention, this Snake-Woman seemed to be the Snake-Person Race's Saintess...

"Still, I caught her."

Zhou Yun was thrilled, as if he'd stepped outside and found a pile of gold.

If he could ask Chen Jingping how to completely tame the Snake-Woman, he would effectively gain a peak Bright Force expert out of nowhere, with a strong chance of breaking through to Dark Force.

Forget the distant realm of Transformation Force—even Dark Force was worth more than gold.

As Zhou Yun walked along the path, he kept scanning his surroundings for pursuers, afraid he might run into disciples sent out by the Sea Whale Gang.

"Not many factions are looking for the Snake-Woman?"

Zhou Yun deliberately circled around the city and found that most of the people who had attended the banquet had returned to their own factions, preparing for possible attacks from the Snake-Person Race.

By contrast, only a handful of minor factions hoping to pick up the scraps were investigating the Snake-Woman's disappearance. Most people assumed she had already fled back to the Black Profound Mountain Range.

Nearly ten Bright Force Snake Demons had been sent to sneak into Black Stone County and rescue her this time, along with two or three Dark Force experts.

Those capable of taking human form and evading the guards' inspections were bound to have strong bloodlines. Some might even have been promising young members of the Snake-Person Race.

They had come prepared to trade their lives for the Saintess's return to Luoqiu Slope. They probably never imagined Zhou Yun would snatch her away right under their noses.

"No time to waste. I'll take this chance to return to the Inner Courtyard."

Zhou Yun made up his mind. After going around a few groups of people, he headed toward the Inner Courtyard.

About half an hour later, Zhou Yun carried the sack over the Inner Courtyard wall and finally reached his own yard. He slammed the door shut.

Perhaps because his Black Ape Movement Technique had reached mastery, no one had spotted him along the way.

He wondered whether Chen Jingping and Liang Chengshi would come looking for him after noticing he was gone.

"I'll check in with them tomorrow. For now, I'd better take a look at today's spoils..."

Zhou Yun set the White Jade Ginseng King and the Dragon-Elephant Body Tempering Technique on the table, then opened the sack. Inside was a Snake-Person girl, kicking wildly.

If the Snake-Woman's anger hadn't made faint green scales appear on her face and arms, there would have been no way to tell she was a Snake-Person. She looked just like a human girl.

"I'll take the gag out of your mouth. Don't scream... If you can do that, nod."

Zhou Yun had never dealt with the Snake-Person Race before, so he could only try the simplest method.

The Snake-Woman had been struggling violently, but at Zhou Yun's words she stopped twisting and nodded silently.

Zhou Yun knew she might only be pretending to agree, but they couldn't go on without communicating. Cautiously, he removed the gag.

"Help! Help!!!"

Bai Qingzhi shouted at the top of her lungs. She knew that falling into the hands of a human martial artist would be worse than death.

She might as well gamble that there were members of her race nearby who could rescue her.

"I knew you'd try that..."

Zhou Yun moved quickly. Before the Snake-Woman could even finish her first few words, he shoved the sandalwood box containing the White Jade Ginseng King into her mouth.

"Mmph, mmph..."

With her mouth blocked, Bai Qingzhi could only express her hatred with her eyes. Her green eyes fixed on Zhou Yun as if she wanted to curse him straight into hell.

"All right. I'll take the gag out one more time. If you try anything again..."

Zhou Yun gave a cold laugh. "Neither your kin nor any other human martial artists know I took you away. No one here will care whether you live or die..."

As he spoke, he rubbed his hands together. "You've already taken human form, so you should know how cruel our human punishments can be..."

Gurgle...

Suddenly, a strange sound echoed through the air.

They both fell silent. Bai Qingzhi's face grew paler.

"Hungry? That makes sense. The Sea Whale Gang must have kept you locked up for a long time."

Zhou Yun had been planning to say a few more threatening words, but clearly, there was a more effective way to handle things.

He turned and left the room, heading for the Inner Courtyard cafeteria.

"He's gone?"

Bai Qingzhi's green eyes lit up.

She struggled to shift her feet, trying to get closer to the door. She even made a little progress.

"There's hope!"

Bai Qingzhi's pupils brightened, and she struggled harder. She was only a few steps from the door.

Creak.

The door opened.

Zhou Yun had returned with a large basin of tender, slow-cooked Python Ox meat. He had found it in the second-floor attic as a new food supplement, one that could greatly increase a martial artist's absorption of qi and blood.

The ox had markings that looked a lot like a python's, so it was called the Python Ox. It lived year-round in the outer reaches of the Black Profound Mountain Range, and ordinary martial artists had a hard time finding one.

"Were you trying to escape? Your whole body's tied up. Even if you got outside, wouldn't another martial artist catch you?"

Zhou Yun couldn't help finding it amusing. Bound up like a dumpling, the Snake-Woman would be spotted by the Inner Courtyard's senior and junior disciples the moment she left the yard.

A Snake-Woman with no ability to fight back was practically a free prize. No one would pass up that opportunity.

At his words, the light in Bai Qingzhi's pupils faded, and she stopped struggling.

"I'll take the gag out one more time. If you start yelling again... I'll put you back in the sack and stuff you in the cupboard."

Zhou Yun spoke to the Snake-Woman, then shook the basin of meat in his hands. "If you behave, all this meat is yours... You've been captured for so long. You haven't had a proper meal, have you?"

Bai Qingzhi caught the incredibly fragrant aroma. It was a world apart from the raw flesh and precious herbs she had eaten at Luoqiu Slope.

She couldn't help swallowing. She figured she might as well fill her stomach before trying to escape, so she slowly nodded.

"Good. That's how you get meat to eat..."

Zhou Yun removed the sandalwood box from the Snake-Woman's mouth again. For a moment, the situation reminded him of training a dog, and he hurriedly banished the thought.

This was the Snake-Person Race's exalted Saintess, an expert at the peak of Bright Force who could break through to Dark Force at any moment. How could he compare her to a dog?

This time, Bai Qingzhi didn't scream. She kept her eyes fixed on the basin of meat in Zhou Yun's hands.

"I want to eat," Bai Qingzhi said through clenched teeth.

"Sure."

Without another word, Zhou Yun picked up a large piece of meat with his chopsticks and stuffed it into the Snake-Woman's mouth.

The instant Bai Qingzhi tasted the tender meat, her green eyes lit up. She chewed a few times, then swallowed it.

"I want more," she said coldly.

"If you want more, answer my questions."

Zhou Yun set the basin of meat aside. The room filled with its fragrance.

There was a hint of spice in it, too, and even Zhou Yun started to salivate.

So he picked up his chopsticks and took a bite as well. The Snake-Woman had eaten from them, but the chopsticks hadn't changed, so there probably wasn't any poison.

Besides, he was a rough martial artist. He wasn't going to be fussy about sharing with this Snake-Woman.

"!"

Seeing Zhou Yun eat the meat that should have been hers, Bai Qingzhi gritted her teeth. "Hurry up and ask!"

"Hmm? Oh..."

Zhou Yun reflexively put down his chopsticks, then asked, "What's your name?"

"Bai Qingzhi."

"Where are you from?"

"The Black Profound Mountain Range, Luoqiu Slope."

"What's your strength?"

"A late-stage first-rank Demon Beast... In your human terms, I'm at the peak of Bright Force. I'll break through to Dark Force in less than a month."

They went back and forth, and Zhou Yun quickly learned the Snake-Woman's basic information.

"So that's how it is. Luoqiu Slope is deep in the Black Profound Mountain Range, and it's the Green Snake Clan's lair..."

Zhou Yun digested the information.

He also learned that the Snake-Woman named Bai Qingzhi had only cultivated for a little over forty years. Human lifespans were about half as long, making her roughly twenty years old by human standards.

Not only that, Bai Qingzhi was the ninth child of the Green Snake Ancestor of Luoqiu Slope, and her bloodline was exceptionally strong.

She wasn't limited to the peak of Transformation Force, as the Sea Whale Gang had claimed. She could reach a level beyond Transformation Force.

"I really struck gold this time..."

Zhou Yun was deeply moved. He had thought he'd merely picked up a bargain.

Beyond Transformation Force? He couldn't reach that realm any time soon; he still needed time to temper himself.

But Bai Qingzhi only needed to eat and sleep every day, then safely shed her skin under the full moon to reach that level.